Using qualitative research methods to analyse and evaluate energy poverty: a systematic literature review [Abstract]

Energy poverty is a highly topical issue both in scientific-technical circles and in political debate, associated with the global health-economic crisis. Despite the many headlines on both the lack of access to energy services and the inability to pay for them, the assessment, measurement and characterisation of households experiencing fuel poverty is still at a very early stage of development. The lack of databases, the low level of disaggregation of the existing ones, as well as the multidimensional and multiscale nature of the phenomenon makes difficult to address Hidden energy Poverty (HEP) [1]. As many recent works show [2], using income and expenditure approach to measure energy poverty only characterise those who are the main breadwinners. This could be read as a limitation, as it reduces and makes invisible other experiences [3]. This research presents a qualitative approach to the study of the phenomenon that shed light on the evaluation and characterization of energy poverty by observing home?s organisation, passive conditioning strategies and thermal perception among other aspects [4]. To this end, a systematic review of the literature was carried out, highlighting the disciplines in which qualitative research is most applied in the field of science, such as public health [5][6] and gender studies within the social sciences, using the well-known PRISMA flow diagram. For the Identification phase, the Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) search engines were used through a proposal of different levels of keywords that allowed a total of 3,744 documents to be identified. Then, reducing in the Screening and Elegibility phases to 150 those with the greatest potential to contribute to the research. The Analysis phase is presented as ongoing research. The introduction of analysis tools or software used in the field of social sciences, Atlas.ti is proposed. This software has a little implementation in technical disciplines such as architecture and engineering, and which therefore contributes to innovation in research. This literature review aims to contribute to ongoing research that will demonstrate that the integration of qualitative research into the study of the fuel poverty phenomenon can be used to complete its characterisation, to demonstrate cases of Hidden Energy Poverty, as well as to adjust energy simulation models.